Topic: predictive representation

In a recent experiment, Shamash et al. demonstrated that mice spontaneously adopt a subgoal strategy when escaping to a shelter hidden behind a wall. Their optimized trajectory, learned in 1-3 trials, involves running straight to a subgoal located at the edge of the wall, and then to the shelter. Strikingly, even if the wall is removed, animals consistently show curved escape trajectories, revealing that they continue to use the subgoal even though this involves a detour. This behavior can disappear depending on the details of the environment configuration during initial exploration, and can s